


From Ash

by idrilhadhafang



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Poe and Rey switched, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Darkpilot smut that is, Eventual Poe Dameron/Kylo Ren, Eventual Smut, Force-Sensitive Poe Dameron, Jedi Poe Dameron, Jedi Rey, Kylo Ren and Rey Are Related, M/M, Minor Finn/Rey (Star Wars), Pilot Rey, Protective Poe Dameron, Protective Rey (Star Wars), Rey Needs A Hug, Rey Solo, Scavenger Poe Dameron, Slow Burn Poe Dameron/Kylo Ren, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-22 11:25:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16596971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: In the version of the Sequel Trilogy that we know, it was Rey who was the scavenger and Poe who was the pilot. But what if their places had been exchanged? What if Poe had been the scavenger, and Rey the pilot? From there, things unfold in a whole new adventure.





	1. Tuanul

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

 

\----------

 

“This will soon begin to make things right.”

 

Lor San Tekka closed his hand over Rey Solo’s smaller one, containing the last piece of the map that she needed in order to find her uncle.

 

“I’ve traveled too far and seen too much despair in the galaxy,” Lor said. “Without the Jedi, there can be no balance in the Force.”

 

Rey nodded. “Thank you, Lor,” she said. “You may have given us hope.”

 

Lor smiled warmly. “We do need it in times like these, don’t we?”

 

It was in that moment that BB-5, Rey’s droid, wheeled inside, beeping urgently. Rey rose, before squatting down beside her. “What is it?”

 

BB-5 was practically shrieking warnings even as she beeped. Rey turned to Tekka. “They’ve found us,” she said. “You run.”

 

“You have to leave,” Tekka said.

 

“They’re not going to spare the villagers. I have to defend them.” It was after she’d given BB-5 a piece of the map and ordered her to flee that Rey practically sprinted out towards the scene, which had, in the moment, devolved Into chaos.

 

It was Rey who took out her lightsaber, a double-bladed blue one, and rushed into action if only to defend the villagers. It was risky, she definitely risked being seen, but to defend the others, she would do whatever she could. That, in the end, was the important thing. The villagers murmured in astonishment; they clearly hadn’t expected a Jedi to be there. None of them had, actually.

 

Very few actually expected it. Rey managed to deflect the blaster bolts that were already flying at her, letting them bounce back and occasionally hit the stormtroopers attacking her. She slashed and fought and stabbed, determined to protect the village at every chance she got.

 

It was one stormtrooper, who knelt over the body of one of his comrades, that she stopped. Reconsidered. She wasn’t going to kill a vulnerable opponent. She wasn’t going to kill anyone who wasn’t shooting at her first. That was just the way of things.

 

There was a whoosh of air right above her, and Rey looked up to realize that an all too familiar shuttle had finally flown into view. Her brother’s shuttle.

 

Kylo Ren was here.

 

The thing about her brother, Rey found, was the fact that he seemed to appear just when things couldn’t seem to get any worse. This was no exception. Even as stormtroopers forcibly escorted civilians away, Kylo Ren descended down the ramp, clad in black, wearing a mask that was almost avian in design. Rey couldn’t help but feel a chill go up her spine. He even almost looked like their grandfather. Granted, crossed with the former Sith Lord Darth Revan, but still, the resemblance with their grandfather was there.

 

Kylo walked over towards Lor San Tekka, who was being forcibly escorted towards him by stormtroopers. Even from her hiding place, Rey could faintly hear them speaking — Ren wanted to find the map, Tekka wanted to help him. To save him. Just like just about everyone else, really, Rey hoped.

 

“The First Order rose from the Dark Side,” Tekka said. “You did not.”

 

Ren advanced on him, all but glaring through the mask. “I’ll show you,” he said coldly, his anger unmistakeable, “The Dark Side.”

 

“You may try,” Tekka said, “But you cannot deny the truth that is your family.”

 

“You’re so right,” Ren said wryly, and it was there that his lightsaber ignited. Rey rushed forward, but she was too late; the lightsaber had already struck Tekka down.

 

She screamed in both anger and agony, and ran towards Ren with her lightsaber raised high. Ren’s lightsaber met hers and the duel began. Rey was almost reminded of when they were young and training at the Academy together, when Ben was teaching her how to use a lightsaber. But this was much different.

 

They fought with all they had, Ren doing what he could to avoid her strikes and spins. For a moment, a terrifying moment, Rey wondered if she would truly be able to incapacitate her own brother.

 

It was then that he held out his hand in a gesture Rey recognized. Ben had gotten good at that at the Academy, freezing people in stasis. Apparently, that had carried over to being Kylo Ren.

 

Rey was effectively frozen in place in that moment, struggling against the invisible field that held her in place. Kylo Ren waved his hand, and everything went black.


	2. Poe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet our scavenger protagonist for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.
> 
> Author's Notes: Took a while to upload because my Internet decided to go on strike, but...here we are.

 

The only occupant of the Star Destroyer was a lone scavenger clad in typical Jakku gear, reaching for a spare part. He was high up in the Star Destroyer, on one of the poles, and he knew that he was lucky, very very lucky, not to break his neck while he was doing his scavenging. He swung to the bottom with the rope that he was using, and headed with his part towards the exit of the Star Destroyer, and the bright sunlight that shone from there. 

 

It was outside the Star Destroyer that the scavenger removed his facial wrappings, revealing a truly beautiful face — smooth, almost sun-gold skin, expressive brown eyes and chiseled features. His name was Poe Dameron, he was nearly thirty years old, and this was his life, scavenging for parts to sell to Unkar Plutt in exchange for food and water. The desert outside was not particularly welcoming — it was nothing but sand that stretched out for miles and miles, not a bit of water or green to be seen. He took out his water bottle and downed the last feeble drops of water that were in there, meager droplets that really did nothing to assuage his thirst or the gnawing emptiness in his belly. 

 

He used a makeshift toboggan to slide to the bottom of the massive Star Destroyer, towards the speeder that lay below. Hooking the staff that he carried with him through the net, he mounted the speeder and headed back to Niima Outpost. 

 

Getting back to Niima Outpost was a little difficult, Poe would definitely say that. There was the matter of squeezing into the line, as well as dusting off his latest part. Still, he took time to try and talk to the other scavengers in the line, even those who seemed too lost in thought to really answer him. Poe supposed that he couldn’t really blame them. After all, they were worrying about where their next meal would come from. Poe couldn’t blame them in the least. It was what they all worried about, really. It was what they all feared. What they would get for the parts that they found, if they would get anything at all, really. 

 

It was when he got to the front of the line that Poe confronted Unkar Plutt, the Crolute in charge of doling out the all-important food rations. Plutt was in charge of just about everything, including the constabulary. Now, as Poe placed his part on the kiosk table, Plutt looked over it. “What you brought me today is worth...one half-portion.”

 

“Last week it was worth more than that,” Poe said. 

 

“One half-portion,” Unkar practically growled. “No more, no less.”

 

Poe hated him, but said nothing as he took the half-portion and went on his way. It was useless to argue with Unkar Plutt. He knew that from twenty-one years of living with him. And still, there was a part of him that wanted to argue, because all this, all of it, was simply unfair. 

 

Life wasn’t fair, Plutt liked to say, as justification for some of the things he did. And yet...Poe almost wanted it to be. 

 

Heading back to the collapsed AT-ST that served as his home of sorts, Poe looked up at the skies. Ever since he had been left on Jakku at the age of eight, he’d watched the skies, waiting for his parents to come back. He was angry at what Plutt had said, how he had ultimately treated Poe, but there was, in the end, really nothing that he could do about it. After all, Poe couldn’t control how many food rations he got. He wished there was a way — for himself and for the other scavengers. But he wasn’t anyone particularly important. 

 

He was nobody, really. 

 

He had fantasized in the past of what he would do if his family ever came back. He’d liberate the other scavengers too — he knew that much. After all, they deserved that much. He would liberate the other scavengers and leave with his family. Maybe they’d go somewhere where they could see the stars. Somewhere bright and beautiful. 

 

Sometimes he’d dream about that, and then he’d wake up and realize that it was nothing more than a dream. 

 

Once more, there was nothing that he could do about it, and he hated it. 

 

BB-8, his droid, greeted him as he entered the AT-ST. Poe smiled at him. “Hey, buddy,” he said. He’d built BB-8 when he was still a kid, and BB-8 had occasionally gone with him on scavenging missions. Poe never took him to Niima Outpost, though; he had always feared Plutt trying to coerce him into selling BB-8, and Poe didn’t want BB-8 to get into that situation. 

 

BB-8 beeped sympathetically. 

 

“We’ll get off this rock together,” Poe said. “One day.”

 

He put together the meal, pouring the powder from the packet into the bowl of water, watching it rise and become a puff of what some would say was the Jakku equivalent of bread. As far as Poe knew, on Jakku there weren’t many opportunities for different flavors of food — only the portions. He took it outside later, where he ate it as he watched the skies. He would give Jakku credit; sometimes the skies could be truly beautiful, during the day and the night. 

 

If only he didn’t have to watch the Jakku skies to effectively get confirmation as to whether or not his family would come back. 

 

It was in that moment that he heard the faint sounds of a scuffle down below the dune that he was resting on, and he picked up his staff and ran towards the source of the disturbance, BB-8 rolling after him. There was Teedo, from Niima Outpost, with some sort of BB unit caught in his net. 

 

Poe shouted at Teedo in his own language. To say that Teedo wasn’t receptive was one way to put it. Even taking out his knife and brandishing it at Teedo...Poe wasn’t usually the type to threaten violence. Not unless he was protecting someone, or unless he was threatened himself. Poe cut the other BB unit free, before Teedo, firing off various grumbles that would have made a spacer blush, rode away. The other BB unit fired off a series of beeps and shrills, before turning inquisitively towards Poe. 

 

“Teedo.” Poe said. “He wants you for parts. I’m really sorry about him; he has no respect for anyone, I swear. Are you okay?”

 

He crouched over the other BB unit, straightened the antenna. The droid beeped affirmatively. 

 

“What’s your name?” Poe said. 

 

The droid beeped. 

 

“BB-5? Interesting. I’m Poe. Poe Dameron. My buddy’s BB-8. Where do you come from anyway?”

 

BB-5 beeped defensively. 

 

“Classified. Right. Sorry.” Then, “Niima Outpost is that way. Closest we can actually get to civilization on this rock. We can probably get you there and you can get some help.”

 

BB-5, however, didn’t seem all too bent on going over to Niima Outpost. She beeped, intent on following Poe and BB-8 over to the desert, where they were looking for more parts to sell to Unkar. 

 

“Whoa.” Poe turned to look at her. “I told you, Niima Outpost is  _ that  _ way. That’s the desert.”

 

BB-5 beeped.

 

“It’s dangerous.”

 

BB-5 dwooed softly. It was clear that she was separated from her master. She wouldn’t be here if she had literally anywhere else to go. 

 

Poe nodded. “Stick close to me. We’ll find your master. I’m sure there’s something in Niima Outpost that’ll allow you to call for help.”

 

BB-5 beeped excitedly. Poe couldn’t help but smile; he did love droids for multiple reasons. This was one of them. He went out of his way to be kind to just about everyone, and droids, really, were no exception, but there was something about droids that were, truly, amazing. 

 

“No problem,” he said. “Stick close to me and BB-8. You don’t know what kind of bandits will show up.”

 

BB-5 beeped an affirmative. She trailed alongside BB-8, almost like Poe’s own droid entourage. Poe couldn’t help but feel a tug of affection. 


	3. Interrogator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey is tortured, and Poe has a near-miss with Unkar Plutt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.
> 
> Author's Notes: Trigger warning for torture in this chapter.

 

It was when Rey woke that she saw Kylo Ren all but looming over her. Even looking at him, she couldn’t help but wonder if there were any traces of Ben Solo left in him, or if there was absolutely nothing at all.

 

There was probably nothing left. Her mother at least seemed to think so. But Rey wasn’t going to give up hope.

 

“You don’t have to do this, Ben,” she said. “I feel the conflict in you. It’s tearing you apart.”

 

Kylo went almost rigidly still even as Rey said the name “Ben”. It probably wasn’t what he wanted to hear. But Rey wasn’t going to stop trying.

 

“Why did you kill Lor San Tekka?” she said. “He was trying to help you. To save you.”

 

“I don’t need saving.”

 

“I think you do.” Rey looked at him, really looked at him, and hoped that he would see the truth. He had to. He simply had to. “I can help you, Ben...”

 

“You can’t help me. Not this time.”

 

He extended his hand. The rumbling in Rey’s head was like the prelude to an avalanche. It was the sort of rumbling that seemed almost unbearable, loud and wrenching and things of that nature. Like something was trying to be dislodged. She tried to remember what she’d been taught by her uncle about keeping invaders out of her mind. Stars willing, she tried. But she could swear that in that moment it was like the Force was restricted. Blocked.

 

“A precaution,” Kylo said. “We couldn’t risk anything. Those are Force suppressing cuffs...”

 

Rey couldn’t help but freeze. The Force was blocked in her. She couldn’t fight back. Even as memories were all but wrenched out of her, memories of her and Ben in happier times, before everything had gone wrong, she wanted to cry. She couldn’t cry, of course. She had to be strong. She had to protect BB-5 no matter what...

 

“Interesting,” Ren said. “Your droid...what does she have to do with anything?”

 

“You won’t hurt her. And I’m not giving you anything.”

 

“We’ll see.”

 

Rey tried to remember some of the techniques that she had been taught. Some of the things she’d learned. Think of sabaac cards. Hyperspace routes. She could think of those — she could —

 

Something gave, and Kylo found the crucial piece. BB-5.

 

“You put up quite a fight, Rey, I will say that.” Ren said. “Well done.”

 

And even as he left the interrogation room, Rey couldn’t help but feel like this was a good set-up for a cruel joke.

 

***

Kylo Ren left the interrogation room. He wasn’t going to lie to himself; there was always something about the interrogations that gave him no pleasure enacting them. But what he had done to Rey...

 

There was something deep in Kylo Ren, a part of him that was still Ben Solo, that was enough to make him wonder what exactly he had done to his younger sister. The way that tears had poured down her face. He knew what exactly he had done to her. He’d taken her faith in him, no doubt, in one stroke. Her naivetie, her innocence. All through simply invading her mind, breaking it just to get the information that he needed the most.

 

He was grateful at least that the mask hid his face, because not for the first time, Kylo Ren was wondering if he had truly done the right thing.

 

“It’s in a droid,” he said to Hux, who had been waiting outside the room the whole time. “A BB unit.”

 

“Well, then,” Hux said coldly, “If it’s on Jakku, we’ll soon have it.”

 

“I leave that to you,” Ren said, and left.

 

He reached his chambers in that moment, seating himself across from the half-melted mask of Darth Vader. He wasn’t the stupid, naive boy who had first become Kylo Ren, the boy who had thrown up after his first interrogation. But he still felt unsettled. Shaken.

 

“Grandfather,” he said. “I’m here...”

 

***

It had been a long journey, but they reached Niima Outpost in one piece. Poe couldn’t help but feel almost like he was part of some sort of droid entourage in a weird way. He looked down at the droids, who were rolling alongside him, and smiled down at them. “You doing okay?” he said.

 

BB-5 beeped in worry.

 

“Don’t worry. We’ll get help at Niima Outpost. No matter what happens.”

 

They walked up towards Plutt’s kiosk with five new pieces that Poe had found out in the desert. Plutt looked over them critically before saying, “These five pieces are worth, let’s see here...one half portion.”

 

Poe sighed. He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. Last week they were worth half a portion each, but trust Plutt to change up the value of certain relics that Poe found.

 

“What about the droids?” Plutt said.

 

“What?” Poe said. “Oh no, no — they’re friends. They’re not for sale.”

 

“I’ll pay for them,” Plutt said. He slammed a whole heap of food packets on the kiosk even as Poe’s stomach roared with sheer hunger. “One hundred and _ten_

portions.”

 

There weren’t any words for how much Poe wanted something like this. One hundred and ten portions — that could last him weeks, if not more. He could imagine it, his stomach full as opposed to constantly hungry. But that wasn’t fair.

 

That couldn’t be more unfair if he tried.

 

“They’re not for sale,” Poe said. “Never was, never will be.” He took his half-portion. Maybe another time he could get one hundred and ten portions, but now...now was definitely not the time. He turned to the two BB units and nodded. “Let’s get going.”

 

He walked away. He swore Plutt practically spat something into his communications device when Poe was far enough away, but he didn’t quite know what.


End file.
